School Officials Protest Stricter University Rules

TAMPA — School officials from across the state gathered Friday to protest an upcoming increase in state university admissions requirements that was approved three years ago.

They told the Florida Board of Regents that 19 academic credits is too rigid and would force districts to expand the school day to seven hours.

''You are going to drive more of your top students out of the state if you do what you're doing,'' warned Thomas Mills, school superintendent of Palm Beach County, speaking for his counterparts statewide.

Mills and others said the best students often prefer art and other specialized subjects to academic courses needed to meet the 19-credit rule that takes effect in 1987.

The rule is the last stage of a multiyear plan to improve standards approved by the state Board of Education. The regents recently recommended a reduction to 17 credits, but state universities Chancellor Charlie Reed disagreed, saying it was a ''move in the wrong direction.''

Reed said Friday that he still feels that way, and he suspects the Board of Education will retain the credit requirements but allow a greater choice of electives.

The 19 credits comprise four years of English, three of mathematics, three of natural sciences, three of social sciences, four electives from those areas and two of foreign languages.

Starting next year, students will be required to earn 17 academic credits. A total of 22 credits is required for high school graduation. That will increase to 24 for the 1987 graduating class.

John Parish, a guidance counselor at DeLand High School, said communication about the changes has been poor. As a result, students have not been prepared to earn the 19 required credits.

Lois Haas, a guidance coordinator in Hillsborough County schools, said none of the elite Ivy League or Seven Sisters institutions has such high standards. Regents' data on eight universities in other states shows that all require fewer than 19 credits. The University of Texas and the University of California, to which the Florida system sometimes is compared, require 15.5 and 16 credits respectively.

When speakers asked for compelling arguments in favor of 19 credits, they did not receive one.

Most school officials said they would be satisfied with 17 credits or more electives to choose from.

The regents are reviewing the requirements as part of an effort to improve the quality of university education. They are considering raising minimum admissions standards from a 2.0 high school grade-point average and an 840 score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test to a flexible scale based on a 2.5 average and 900 score.

The current minimum was chosen in 1981, when a study showed that it gave students a 50-50 chance of success during the first year of college. New studies are being done using current data.

Most universities already have higher standards than the minimum. The greatest fear in raising the standards is that it would worsen a minority- recruiting problem.

Regents' data shows that 58 percent of the black students admitted as freshmen in 1984 did not meet minimum standards, and only 51 percent would have met the proposed standards.